I'll be Loving You
by BluAugust
Summary: A ShikaXTem oneshot based off of the song Love, Me. Why is Shikamaru retelling the story of when he and Temari ran away together and what will happen on their mission? Summary not that great shikaXtem


_**Author's Note: **I do not own Naruto. Also this is my second onshot, and my first ShikaXTem story. The story itself was inspired by the song Love, Me by Raye Collin. Hope you enjoy._

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"Do you have to go tomorrow daddy," said his little girl as she jumped onto her bed and blinked back at him, with a pair of big brown eyes. "I don't want you and mommy to go. I will miss you."

He smiled at her though there was regret in his eyes. He shook his head slowly and sat down in the chair beside her bed. He reached over and tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ears.

"I'm sorry baby but mommy and I have to go. We have a mission. We won't be gone long. Just a few days," he explained. He would like nothing more than to blow off the mission and stay here with his wife, his little girl, and his newborn son but that wasn't an option. He and Temari had a mission. Choji and Ino had offered to watch their kids for the few days they would be gone. At least two of his best friends would be here to watch them.

His little girl frowned, disappointed that they would have to be leaving. This was the first time that both of them would be gone. Usually it was one or the other, but this time they were both going. Knowing that arguing wasn't going to accomplish anything she sighed and laid down. He smiled at her again, pulling her covers up to her chin and watching as she snuggled into them and turned her head to the side so her cheek was resting against her pillow.

"Tell me a story daddy," she said sweetly and even though he knew it was well past her bedtime he couldn't resist those pleading brown eyes.

"What story would you like to hear," he asked as he settled back down into the chair beside her bed.

"Tell me about the time you and mommy ran away together," she asked as she watched him with wide eyed interest. He chuckled. She had heard this story more times than he could count but every time he told it to her she listened as if it was the first time she had ever heard it. He leaned back in the chair and folded his hands in front of him, his own brown eyes resting on his little girl who reminded him so much of her mother already.

"Well back when we were younger not may people liked the idea of your mommy and I being together, especially your uncles. You see we were from two different villages and no one thought that we should be allowed to get married even though we loved each other very much," he explained.

"That's silly," his little girl said wrinkling her nose at the thought as she pushed the covers back and sat back up to listen to his story. He nodded in agreement.

"I know it is. That's why your mom and I decided we were going to run away together," he said with a wistful smile as if remembering some sort of tucked away memory. "It was foolish and something we could have both gotten in a lot of trouble for but we didn't care. We had it in our heads that we would run away and get married in the first village we came across together. So we picked a time and place where we could meet when the time came I snuck out of the village to meet your mom."

"And what happened," his little girl asked, her eyes having widened as she seemed to be hanging on his every word. She knew what had happened, she had heard it plenty of times before and yet he continued, soothing her fierce interest with each of his words.

"Well I got to where we were supposed to meet, but your mom wasn't there," he said, in his mind remembering the moment he had come to the clearing and it had been empty. He had been worried that perhaps her brothers had found out or that she had decided she didn't want to leave with him anymore. But that hadn't been the case. "Instead of your mom I found a letter stuck to the tree with a kunai."

"And what did the note say daddy," his little girl prompted even though she not only knew but had seen the note herself since he had kept it to this day.

"Well it said 'if you get there before I do, don't give up on me. I'll meet you when my mission is though; I don't know how long I'll be. But I'm not going to let you down, darling wait and see. And between now and then, until I see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me.' That was the letter your mom let me," he said with a fond smile.

His little girl let out a wistful sigh. Her eyes then moved to the door and she smiled shyly. His own gaze followed that of his daughters and rested on his wife.

"You've always been the sappy one, the crybaby," she stated bluntly though she was smiling as she said this. She moved over and sat down on his lap in the chair.

"Troublesome woman," he muttered in her ear as he wrapped his arms lightly around her waist.

"Lazy man," she whispered back as she leaned back against his chest and smiled at their daughter. "Someone is supposed to be in bed," she said causing their little girl to scramble back under her covers.

"How come we live here in Kohona then, if you ran away" she asked after peeking her head back out of the covers.

"When everyone realized there was no keeping us apart, they decided we could get married and let us move home," he explained as he felt his wife move from his lap. He let his arms slip from around her as she leaned over their daughter and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Go to sleep," she said softly. "And behave for Ino and Choji while we are gone."

He stood up as his little girl nodded to her mother. He too leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead. He followed his wife to the door and paused where he flipped off the lights and looked back at his daughter.

"Good night baby," he said closing the door behind him. Wrapping his arms around his wife's waist, he rested his chin on her shoulder. "I love you troublesome woman."

"I love you too my troublesome man," she said as she took his arm and led him down the hall to their room.

The morning came too quickly for them both and before dawn both he and his wife kissed their sleeping children goodbye and welcomed Ino and Choji into their home. And though neither wanted to go, they left the village as the first rays of dawn's light peeked out from above the trees.

With Kohona slowly waking behind them, the pair set off towards the place of her birth, Suna. The mission was simple, a message needed to be delivered. There was a chance of an attack, a slim one, but regardless the message was important so both of them had been sent to ensure its arrival.

They both moved quickly, both aware that the faster the completed their mission, the faster they would be able to return home to their children. He would have preferred to have done this alone so that both of them weren't away from the children but they had been all that was available at the time. Choji was still recovering from an injury and Ino was pregnant and no longer able to go on missions such as this one until her little one was born. The others were all on missions of their own or suffering from their own various injuries. Kohona wasn't exactly at its strongest at the moment, which was probably one of the reasons for the message they were delivering. Suna was one of their allied villages after all.

The trees passed by them in a blur as the leapt through them in silence, nothing but the wind in their ears as they moved from branch to branch. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes to hours as they closed the distance from themselves and Suna while lengthening the distance between themselves and their children.

They both came to a stop simultaneously. They both felt it, that they were no longer alone. He looked to her, and she met his brown eyes with her own. A knowing look was exchanged between them as they both dropped to the ground. The message they were carrying had been important. Neither of them had known just how important.

Badly beaten and bleeding heavily, he had just about exhausted all of his chakra. His breathing was ragged as he struggled to keep the ninja in front of him in his shadow possession jutsu. He knew he needed to focus but from the corner of his eye he watched her as she fought off a ninja as well. She was doing well though she was rather beaten herself. Her safety was more important to him than his own life. He couldn't imagine it without her.

And then there on the ground something reflected the rays of light, something so small he barely paid it any mind. It was merely a glimpse but immediately he realized the target. He yelled her name. She turned, barely getting in a sweep of her hand to deflect the multiple kunai that had been sent in her direction as she walked into the trap. In that moment, his concentration had been broken. The ninja he had trapped in his jutsu, surged forward.

His shoulder rammed into his body and sent him flying backwards. His back slammed into a tree and he lost all coherent thought for a moment as pain shot down his back and he coughed up blood. His brown eyes opened as he saw the ninja charge at him, katana lowered aimed for his chest. His body seemed frozen unable to move as her beautiful face flashed before him followed by those of his children. He would miss their smiles most of all and waking up to her face in the mornings.

And then when the impact should have come, it didn't. His brown eyes opened as she stood in front of him, her fan opened fully in front of her. He waited for her sharp retort about having to save him but it didn't come. Instead he watched as her body shuddered. He frowned in confusion as something warm hit him on the cheek.

Time seemed to be suspended in that moment as he reached his hand to his cheek. A finger tentatively touched the spot on his cheek and came away stained a red at the tip. His gaze traveled upwards and rested on the back of his beloved. His gaze turned to one of horror, his eyes widening as he saw the gleam of the swords tip protruding from her back, her clothes beginning to stain a deep red.

She had tried to deflect the sword with her fan. It had gone through her fan however and straight through her as well. He heard her gasp as the sword was pulled out of her. She fell forward to her knees as the enemy ninja jumped back, well aware that he was still there. He caught her in his arms and laid her back, his attention now on the ninja who had done this.

His channeled his desperation and his rage, a surge of new found energy running through him as he threw a continuous stream of kunai at the ninja. The ninja jumped back to avoid them, until he had foolishly jumped into the shadows. He caught him once again in his jutsu and threw one final kunai, this one with an explosive tag tied to it.

There was an explosion in which he felt the heat rush past his face. He turned his gaze to search for the other ninja who either she had killed or had simply fled. He didn't honestly care. He couldn't sense the last ninja and at the moment it didn't matter one bit to him.

He raced quickly back to her. She was laying where he had left her, her hands over the wound, blood pooling out from between her fingers. He dropped to his knees beside her, tears already streaming down his dirt and blood stained cheeks. He closed his eyes as he choked down a sob that was rising in his throat. Then he felt her bloodied hand on his own.

"Why is it that," she coughed up a bit of blood. "I am always saving you." There was more coughing. "You are such a troublesome man," she choked out, tears spilling from her own eyes as she held onto his hand.

He couldn't say anything. He couldn't open his mouth to speak. Instead he carefully lifted her into his arms and rose to his own shaky legs. He had to get her to help. She had to be alright. He didn't want to do this all without her.

"I have to get you back to Kohona. We need to get you help," he finally said, his voice cracking and sounding foreign to his own ears.

"You have a mission to complete," she whispered, her eyes fluttering closed.

"I don't care about the mission. I care about you. Hang in there a bit longer," he said softly as he jumped took off with her in his arms back towards Kohona since it was closer than Suna. She rested her cheek against his chest and tried to brace herself against the jarring movements.

"Shikamaru," he heard her whisper his name and he looked down at her face. It was almost as if she were sleeping in his arms though the blood and tears were a harsh reminder that this wasn't the case. "I love you. And the children, make sure they know that," she whispered, her voice cracking this time as a sob did escape her throat.

"Shh," he hushed her. "Save your energy. I love you too Temari. And so do the children. We all know that you love us," he whispered back to her.

She seemed content with his answer and let out a sigh against his chest. A short time later he paused a moment to check her pulse. It was weak but still there. She had long since lost consciousness. Holding her there against him, he began to cry once again as he looked down at the beautiful face of his wife, his first and only love. And when he spoke to her, his voice came out as a hushed whisper.

"If you get there before I do. Don't give up on me. I'll meet you when my time here is through; I don't know how long I'll be. But I'm not going to let you down, darling wait and see. And between now and then, until I see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me."

Those were the last words that he whispered to his wife. She slipped away in his arms just before they reached the gates of Kohona. She had lost too much blood. And when he realized that she was truly gone, he stopped and leaned against the nearest tree, still holding her in his arms as he sank to the ground. And as his vision blurred from all the tears that spilled down his cheeks, he turned his head towards the sky where he knew his beautiful angel had gone.

"Until we meet again my love."

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_So there you have it. I hope it was worth the time you took to read it. I usually don't write stories with sad endings like this and my other oneshot that I just put out but lately they have been reflecting my mood I suppose. I was going to write in a battle scene but I opted out of that and just sort of skipped over it. I am not all that comfortable or good at writing out those scenes since I don't think I know nearly enough about the combat that would happen and such. Anyway once again thank for reading. _


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